I think I wrote about the Indonesian restaurant I frequented for many years, located in Inglewood, CA. from the early '60s through the 80s' till I moved up here to Lancaster and the trip was just too long.
J.B.'s Little Bali was owned and operated by a couple from Indonesia and their extended family.
The place was always full - one needed reservations for more than 2 and there were big round tables because most parties were 6, 8, 10.
There were many patrons who were obviously asian, but there were also a lot of Dutch ex-pats who had lived in Indonesia for years, or decades. I'm nosy, I asked and in most cases, the people were friendly and willing, if not eager to share their stories. The set-price meal was the "COMPLETE RIJSTTAFEL" and it took a long time to get through all the "courses" - one is not supposed to rush eating - so there was plenty of time for conversation.
"Bob" (the "B" of J.B.) explained every dish and the sideboys that accompanied them. Warned about the extremely hot SAMBALS and suggested how to add flavor to the dish without "inflaming it" (there were small containers of TOOTHPICKS on the table to dip into the sambals and then poke into the serving on one's plate.)
Water or beer was served with the first round of dishes, 5, I think - included Gado-Gado salad, still one of my favorites.
As we emptied those dishes, different ones would replace them - one was savory banana fritters, which I loved, and vegetables in a sauce with coconut chips that went so well with the rice. Bob explained there were always an uneven number of dishes because otherwise it would be bad luck.
Then tea, black tea with a hint of vanilla along with some sweets, fresh fruits and some tiny cakes and dumplings with sweet fillings.
Finally, a round of ginger tea to "settle the stomach."
As far as I knew, this was a "pure Indonesian" restaurant. The dishes were all in my Indonesian cookbooks and were described in other books about Indonesia itself.
